1. Search for Flights on Kayak.com

Google Flights – best for discovery, when you know you want to go someplace but don’t know where

Vayama.com – best for cheap flights with multiple stops

Expedia.com – best for vacation packages

For flights use the flexible search options (if possible). The best days to fly are usually – though not always – Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday. Thursday and Friday are the most expensive days to fly.

Take note of the best prices, routes, and flights that are returned. If they’re good fares, buy them and forget about the rest of this post. But if you want to keep searching then go to step 2.

2. Search Airfare Websites for Deals and Seat Sales

The above websites should return all current sales but sometimes they miss a seat sale put on by a specific airline for a short window of dates. The following websites work best when you have a destination in mind but are flexible for the dates you travel.

Go to Airfarewatchdog.com and Travelzoo.com to look for flights cheaper than what you found in step 1. This will tend to be more of a listing than a search for exact dates and flights.

3. Look at Flights on Budget Airlines

Budget airlines don’t always appear on travel websites like Orbitz or Kayak so you’ll have to search on different sites to find those fares.

Search for budget flights using these sites:

WhichBudget.com

Cheap Flights Route Map on Skyscanner

These provide listings of flights on budget and low-cost carriers. Budget airlines tend to fly shorter routes and any route that requires a change of planes probably isn’t worth the hassle. But looking never hurts.

If you find a budget airline flying the route you need, then visit their website and check the price. Be sure to account for baggage fees and extra charges.